Kimberly Pauley

Welcome to my new website!

So, whaddaya think of my brand-spankin’ new website courtesy Design Ng? There’s still a few content-y things I need to update (like the Q&A page…hey, you have any new questions for me??), but for the most part, we’re there! Love to hear your thoughts!!

BTW…since I’m dying to hear what you think…the first 5 people to comment here? I’ll totally send you some stickers and book swag Just leave a comment and then fill out the contact form with your name/address so I can send it off!

Another BTW…you can now sign up for the newsletter right on the site instead of having to email me!

Posted in Giveaways, Personal | 22 Comments »

Congrats to Myra! (And Egmont)

I’m sooooo happy to announce today (as the cat is out of the bag, so to speak) that my good friend and writing buddy Myra McEntire just got a 2 book deal for her YA novel with Egmont USA. You guys? Are totally going to love it. I mean it. Emerson (Myra’s main character) is a girl that Mina would love to hang with. And she’s short like Serena. And she kicks butt.

So go check her out…the book won’t be out until 2011 (I know, I know, I keep telling you, publishing is a slow business), but you can get to know her now. ‘Cause she’s fun (seriously — check out her blog posts about Edward on a Stick. Yes, that Edward.).

Tags: myra mcentire
Posted in Authors & Books, Personal | 2 Comments »

And now for something different…how I got an agent

I’ve been promising to write this post for some time, though I’d like to start off with a disclaimer: This information will in no way help you at all.

There. Now that we’ve got that out of the way.

Before you get an agent, you look on with wide-eyed wonder at those writers who have one wondering who waved a magic wand. Or maybe just in bitter jealousy. I suppose it depends on you.

Anyway, here’s how I got one (Tamar Rydzinski of the Laura Dail agency). First, I wrote a book. (Doh!) Then I started querying agents that I’d researched as possible good fits based on what they repped and on recommendations from author peeps that I knew (I knew quite a few from all my years of reviewing and interviewing them). I queried a total of about, erm, maybe 8 or 10 agents in my first batch, including Laura Dail, who had been recommended (and introduced to me) by the awesome Sarah Mlynowski.

They all said no. For the most part, they all liked my writing okay but to some it didn’t speak to them because they liked vampire novels that were traditional horror-ish stuff. And some just didn’t think vampires were an easy sell. I should note that I wrote my book in 2004/2005 before Twilight came out and was querying before it came out and during the early Twilight days before things went insane. And, darn it all, right when I first started querying, a bunch of new vampire books cropped up. Laura considered it the longest and gave me an encouraging no and said I should send more stuff in the future.

Well, I was talking with Terry, a writer friend of mine and she mentioned that her editor at Mirrorstone was looking for paranormal YA. She introduced me and Mirrorstone considered the manuscript for a good long time (not complaining, just saying). They ultimately decided to buy it and I signed all the contracts and stuff myself. No agent.

Then (much later), my book came out. An author friend of mine who had gone to work as an editor/development dude at a large book packager (okay, THE large book packager) liked Mina’s voice. He emailed and asked if I would be interested in working with them on a middle grade novel, possibly a series. It was an interesting idea and while it wasn’t *my* idea, I thought I ought to at least investigate it. But there was no way I was going to do that without an agent. Book packaging contracts are notoriously convoluted. So I emailed Laura and explained the situation, etc. and they agreed to represent me.

The book packager thing fell through (they decided they wanted a guy to write the series in question, and while there are many things I can change about myself, that just isn’t one of them), but lo and behold, I had an agent. Tamar works with Laura.

Nothing overly romantic or earth-shattering, but there you go.

I still actually have no idea how the agent thing works in many ways since Tamar hasn’t actually repped a book I haven’t sold myself (she did the contract stuff on the sequel, but didn’t have to present it or anything like that — I really still just worked directly with my editor on that). They’ve handled all the foreign contract stuff on Sucks to Be Me, which is good (because it is totally confusing). So I’ll have to report back after I actually finish my next book and actually get to work with them for real.

See, I told you it wouldn’t help you at all.

Tags: how I got an agent
Posted in Personal, Posts that are entirely too long, Writing | 5 Comments »

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving (to all of you who celebrate it — and for those that don’t…have a happy day!)!

Sometimes we have to stop and remind ourselves of the things we are thankful for.

I am thankful for…

• all of my readers and fans, especially those of you who have written to me over the last year and a half (each letter and email I get means a lot to me!)
• being able to do the thing I love (writing) and hopefully being able to continue doing it for years to come
• my family and especially for gooey sticky but-oh-so-sweet Little Max hugs
• my fellow writers and the community that we all contribute to and shape every day
• my awesome editor & everyone at Mirrorstone
• my extended family from my sisters who put up with me to my cousins who answer random questions for me
• my friends, including many old ones that I have only recently reconnected with (so I suppose I should also say I am thankful for Facebook)

What are you thankful for?

Posted in Personal | 3 Comments »

Where I Write

So, this is where I do most of my writing, in my office. If you click on the pic, it’ll show you a blown up version (if you are so inclined). One side is three bookshelves (full o’ books) and the other side is a desk with bookshelves on top. The painting on the wall is my own (I call it Angry Dude). The giant frog was a gift from my team when I left corporate life. There’s a kind of matching dragon and fish on top of the bookshelves that you can’t see. Under the Angry Dude is a card designed by Emi Tanji that my publisher sent me when The Max was born. It is ADORABLE. Aw, heck, here it is in all it’s glory:

On the shelves closest to where I work are my writing and reference books, including Writing Magic, Writing Down the Bones, On Writing, The Encyclopedia of Fairies, Critical Theory Since Plato, and many, many more. It’s kind of a random collection. There’s also a great deal of medieval reference books that I’d bought when I was working on an epic fantasy. I still might finish it someday. We’ll see. The heroine was a young girl who could kick butt AND was a heckuva blacksmith. And a young king who’d much rather study than wield a sword.

I also like to write on the front porch with my laptop if the weather was good (which up here in Chicago? Eh, there’s only about 5 months out of the year that’ll work). I used to write in coffee shops, doing the whole writer-y thing, but that was before The Max. Now, I write whenever and wherever I can, sometimes in the middle of the night when everyone else is sleeping. So imagine me in there typing away in the dark with my giant frog flying up above.

By the way, my office? Almost never that clean.

Posted in Just for Fun, Personal, Writing | 4 Comments »

The Prairie Writer's Day Conference & Other Random Thoughts

So, I went to the SCBWI Illinois Prairie Writer’s Day Conference this Saturday. It was a strange experience for me. I haven’t been to a conference since we lived in Florida (I used to go to the Florida Suncoast Conference every year) — and, more importantly, since I got published. It feels entirely different now. Of course, there’s also the difference in conferences; the Suncoast one is much larger and for writers of…well, everything…while the SCBWI ones are (naturally) for those that deal in YA, kiddie lit, and illustration.

I still remember very fondly the year I got to have dinner with Harry Harrison. That was one of the highlights of my life. Should I say that? Oh, I am such a sci-fi geekette. Anyway, back to today.

It was a good conference but, as most such things are, it’s really geared more towards the pre-published than the published. I can’t say that I learned a whole lot. But then, I’ve also been “around” the business for quite some time what with running YA Books Central all these years. And other stuff. Eh, did I ever tell you I interned as an editorial assistant at a University Press? Oh my, the slush pile. It was, eh, academic. But weird.

But I digress (like I normally do).

Not that I am by any means an expert at anything in this crazy writing business. I may be published (and come May I’ll be more than a one hit wonder–Yay!), but I still have lots of questions. But they aren’t really the questions that get answered at conferences unless you can have a wee bit of a chat with an editor or agent (but not a stalkerish one). Though technically I suppose I can chat with my own  editor or agent. And I do. But sometimes, it’s hard to get solid answers. And I have to sometimes wonder if they’re just being nice (because they are, you know. Nice. Really. Awesome people.).

Like I’ll ask, “Um, so how is my book doing? Is it doing okay? How many copies should I be selling? How many copies do debut authors tend to sell on average?”

The answer I’ve gotten to that question is basically “Hey, it’s doing just fine.” and “It’s hard to give an average. I really couldn’t say.”

Maybe it’s because my husband is a math dude that I get a little caught up in numbers. Or maybe because he’s always asking me. When I get my royalty statements I can tell him how many copies I’ve sold, but I’ve never really been able to say whether it’s a good number or not. Because I really don’t know and it’s not the kind of stuff you can find anywhere online and they don’t teach it at conferences (though if someone did a breakout session on that? Oh, I would totally take it). And you can’t compare to news reports because they only seem to report on the big guns.

And I am NOT J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer. I am not selling millions of copies. Not that I would complain if I was. So, you know, if you feel like going out there and buying a copy or two or three…

Um, anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. The conference.

One of the little tidbits I happened to learn today was during a session with Michael Stearns of Upstart Crow Literary. He’s an agent that I’ve followed on Twitter awhile and kept up with his blog posts (he’s pretty funny and if you know me, you know I like funny). He used to be an editor with a couple of different (very large) publishing houses. He said that [fairly popular author who I've heard of and admire greatly]’s first 4 or so books sold only a few thousand copies each. And even his [really great, very awesome] award-winning novel only sold like 6,000 copies in hardcover.

Whoa.

Really?? I mean, I’d seen a news article recently that said something about how a first book nowadays is considered a success if it sells 5,000 copies. I thought it was a typo. Seriously.

Sucks to Be Me (in hardcover) has sold a bunch more than that. Not like Rowling level bunches or anything (not even close), but way more than that! And the paperback version that came out in August? It’s already sold more than that (though I think the numbers he was quoting were all about the hardcover, so I don’t know how the paperback sales stack up). And the hardcover did even go into a second printing, pretty fast.

So I do feel like, hey, maybe my book is doing pretty good! And who knows what will happen once the sequel comes out in May? Maybe even more people will discover it.

Hmmm. Betcha didn’t realize that even published authors still stress about stuff, huh? It makes me smile every time a fan writes me (and I write back) and they go “OMG! A Famous Author wrote me back!” Because I sooooooo do not feel remotely famous. If I’m ever out and about and I actually see someone reading my book (someone I don’t already know), I will probably SQUEE out loud and faint dead away.

Hmm. Maybe it’s a good thing I’m NOT J.K. Rowling. I’d have to carry a pillow around to land on or something.

But I should get back to talking about the conference. It was pretty good. Besides Michael Stearns, the other keynote speakers were Cynthia Leitich Smith (it was incredibly awesome to FINALLY meet her in person after having “known” her for years via email and she also brought along her husband Greg, who writes middle grade novels that I also love, so that was a bonus), Stacy Cantor from Walker Books, Yolanda LeRoy from Charlesbridge, Alisha Niehaus from Dial Books (Penguin), and Nick Eliopulos from Random House. They were all great, though Nick was especially funny — PLUS he also went to the University of Florida AND he also played D&D in High School! And he’s on the shorter side (though not nearly so short as me). I’d love to work with him someday. I think he’d be fun. I would totally write a paranormal gay romance just to do it.

Okay, I’m sure that made no sense to you. Ha! Nick had filled out a questionnaire about what he’d love to see come across his desk and that’s what he put down, even though he was kind of joking. But only kinda.

Though the novel I’m working on now is paranormal and it does have some romance and it does have a gay character…hmmmm. Though the gay character is a best friend and not the main character, so not a 100% fit. Anyway. But who knows, maybe my agent can send it to him when I’m done. You never know.

I thought all of the editors that came were very interesting and knew their stuff. And they were entertaining…Yolanda even sang and danced for us and Alisha turned a cartwheel.

Um, maybe you had to be there.

I also took in a breakout session with Cynthea Liu, the author of Paris Pan Takes the Dare. It was on PR. I actually pretty much already do all the things she talked about (which, geez, hopefully so since my first book came out in 2008!), though the one thing I ought to be more proactive about is scheduling events and trying to book school visits. I just haven’t put that as a big priority, partly because of The Max. But Cynthea’s got a 2 year old and if she can do it…Though, really, I think it’s tough right now because most schools and libraries just don’t have the funding to book authors. And I can’t afford to do visits for free (heck, childcare for The Max is around $100 if I’m gone all day) except when I do it as a promotion/giveaway. *sigh* Darn economy. But who knows, maybe next year will be better.

The only cringe worthy moments for me were when anybody brought up vampire novels during the talks. And how they were so over and blah, blah, blah. *sigh* Every time someone at one of these things asks me what my book is about, I kind of hate telling them it’s a vampire book. But it’s different! I say, while their eyes glaze over. I feel like I need to get a T-shirt written up with a disclaimer: Yes, I wrote a vampire book. No, I didn’t write it because of Twilight. I wrote it before Twilight came out, thankyouverymuch. There was a bandwagon? Wow, I must have missed that. Really, the undead are sooo dead? Thank you for telling me. I hadn’t heard that. Yes, I do have fangs. Do you want to see them? No, the book I’m working on now doesn’t have any vampires in it. No, it doesn’t have werewolves in it either. No, there are no zombies. No angels either. Would you like a bookmark?

Okay, maybe that wouldn’t be a good idea.

Um…this is getting really long and it’s past my bedtime. And it’s not even a rant. So, to sum up (as Inigo says)…

The conference was interesting. The guests were informative. I still feel all “Whoa, I’m an actual author.” And free Snickers? Those are always yummy.

Tags: alisha niehaus, kimberly pauley, michael stearns, nick eliopulos, prairie writer's day, scbwi illinois, stacy cantor, yolanda leroy
Posted in Author Appearances, Personal, Posts that are entirely too long, Writing | 5 Comments »

So, just what is the author's responsibility, anyway?

Hang on, people, this is gonna be a long one. And opinionated. Just warning you ahead of time.

Today I was sucked into a “discussion” on a blog that really made me think. Actually, it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot, off and on, for quite some time. The original post was by someone in the biz, either an editorial assistant or an agent’s assistant (I don’t know which, as they run an anonymous blog). They basically lambasted Maggie Stiefvater, the author of Shiver, and Stephenie Meyer for writing what they called misogynistic romances and feeble heroines. Rather rudely. I’m not going to link to that person’s post because I get a fair amount of traffic from 10 – 12 year old readers and there’s quite a bit on that blog and in that post that I really don’t feel comfortable directing younger readers to. And besides, while their post made me think and pushed me to write this, what I have to say isn’t really in direct response to it. Not to mention I found their rant to be just, well, really rude.

Let me say first that I have not read Shiver yet. I do “know” Maggie from Twitter and think she’s awesome. But I can’t comment on her book since I haven’t read it. I’ve seen reviews that say her heroine kicks butt and others that say the opposite. But I can’t confirm or deny or defend or uphold or whatever until I read the book.  I did read Twilight and New Moon, but did not finish the series (mostly because I found out my book was going to get published and I didn’t want to muddle up my idea of vampires with anyone else’s). But more on that later.

So, really, what is an author’s responsibility to readers?

Wait, let me start over and come back to that.

I think we can all agree (I hope) that saying “all female main characters should be strong and kick butt!” is silly. That’s like saying they should all be named Bob, not to mention that if every female main character exhibited the same characteristics, we’d have some pretty bored readers after awhile (and bored authors).

Do I think that strong female heroines are awesome? You bet I do. Can’t get enough of ‘em. But do I think that all female characters should be strong? No. It’s not realistic. It’s not real. It wouldn’t feel true to readers and it wouldn’t be true to the characters. And real people aren’t all strong, all the time. Sometimes we’re weak. We do things we shouldn’t. We think things we shouldn’t. We say things we shouldn’t. Heck, even Superman had bad days.

Of course, that’s simplifying things. If an author is doing their job right, a character has many levels. If a character is at all realistic, they may be both strong and weak, kind and mean, etc. etc. But you know what? Some characters are more weak than strong and vice versa.

Is it an author’s responsibility to write strong female characters so that readers, especially teen girls, can have an example to follow and to look up to?

Sure, if it’s right for that book and that character. Let me repeat that. IF it is right for that book and that character and that author.

Because every book (thank heavens) is not the same and neither is every character. Or every author (though I know I couple I’d trade hair with, not to mention waistlines).

It is certainly okay for people to call for MORE books with strong heroines. Or, heck, how about more multicultural ones? Or more GLBT ones? I’d love to see all of that. Shoot, all of that in one book? Even more awesome-blossom.

Anyway, that brings me to another point. Just what is strong? Is it physical strength? Is it mental fortitude? Is it the ability to not need a guy in your life? Or, if you have one, to insist on being an equal partner? To not ever take a back seat (or, like Baby, to not be stuck in the corner)?

Strength is different for everyone and there are many different levels of it. There’s quiet strength, like a woman rebuilding a home after a catastrophe. There’s obvious strength, like someone physically fighting for something they believe in. There’s – oh heck, I could be here all night. My point? One person can see strength in something that others might not. And for some people, just being able to talk yourself into raising your hand in class to answer a question takes more strength than the star quarterback shows in an entire season. It all depends.

But let’s go back now. What is an author’s responsibility to readers? Are we supposed to lead by example? Are we supposed to hold a mirror up? Do we show things how we wish they were or how they really are? And what are they, anyway?

Whew, tough questions.

So, let’s talk about Twilight and Bella since that’s what kicked off many of these blogs talking about strong heroines. And I will remind you that all of this is just my own opinion and you are certainly free to disagree with me on any point.

When I first read Twilight, I liked it. I got swept into the romance of it. Then I read New Moon and the more I thought about Bella’s actions, the less I liked them. It really dismayed me that she felt so lost without Edward that she was willing to put herself in increasing danger. That she basically went into a deep, almost catatonic depression without him and only felt whole again once he was back.

Is this something I’d want for myself or for my daughter (if I had one, or, geez, my son, for that matter)? No, absolutely not. I’d want to be strong and survive it and get on with my life. But, you know what? I’m not Bella.

Do I like the way Stephenie Meyer wrote Bella’s actions? Um, not necessarily. Is it realistic? Yes, it is. I knew girls like this. I’m sure I had moments in my life where I acted the same way as well. Would all girls react that way? No. Did this one character react that way? Yes. Should Stephenie Meyer have written her differently? Presented a stronger alternative?

And here’s where I argued with myself for a while, but I’ve come to the conclusion that no, she shouldn’t have. Because that wasn’t this book. She created a character and that’s how that character was.

Oh, someone says, but that’s silly. You guys are the authors. You write the characters. You make them do what they do.

Well, yes and no. There are things that Mina does in the books that I don’t necessarily agree with, but she does them because that’s the way she is. And yes, I created her, but I also have to be true to her. There are some things I can fiddle with, but others that just…for lack of a better word…had to happen the way they did.

But what about the author’s responsibility? Is it our job to try and teach our readers to be “better” people (I’m not even going to get into how differently different people would define better)?

For some authors, maybe the answer to that is yes (well, I suppose all self-help authors would definitely be a yes on that one). But most of us? I think we’re just out there trying to tell the stories we have in our heads…maybe to make people think, maybe to entertain them, maybe to frighten them, I don’t know. But is it our job and our responsibility to only present things “as they should be?” No. Again, NO. We are not the arbiters of how things should be. And it’s folly to even imagine that we are (ha, not to mention incredibly full of hubris…like the kind that comes before a big fall).

That said, there are little choices we all make every time we write. For instance, in Sucks to Be Me, Mina goes to a couple of parties. She’s a junior in high school and, quite frankly, I don’t personally want to encourage underage drinking (and if you want to know, no, I didn’t drink when I was in high school but no, I wasn’t a total goody-two-shoes either) especially since I knew I’d have some younger readers. But it seemed completely unrealistic to me to have her go to an “A list” party where the kids sat around sipping club soda. So, as an author, I compromised. There’s alcohol at the party, but Mina is not a drinker.

Did I have to write it that way? No. Did I make a choice to write it that way? Yes. Was it the “right” way to write it? Yes, for THIS character and THIS book. And for me, the author.

There are other books where it would be ridiculous for the character to turn down a beer. Other books where the character might swear like a sailor. Or do drugs. Or do “It.” And you know what? That’s okay. Those are their stories.

And the people reading these stories? Just like the characters, they’re all over the map. Weak, strong, tall, short, fat, thin, angry, happy, sad, manic, depressed, joyful…and boy, I’m glad that all of them can find themselves in some book somewhere. Maybe not THIS book, but THAT book. Or how about that one over there?

I know I kind of meandered all over with this. I should probably either a) not post this at all or b) deconstruct this blob and write it all up with the correct thematic points and whatnot. But, you know what? That’s not me.

And if there’s any point I’m trying to make here, it’s this: be true to yourself (and that goes for characters too). It’s really all you can do. All any of us can do.

Posted in Personal | 22 Comments »

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from me and little Max (he’s the vampire fireman and I’m the vampire kitty).

Me and The Max!

Posted in Just for Fun, Personal | 4 Comments »

On stealing books….

I’ve been very excited this week about the Spanish version of Sucks to Be Me being released (Ser yo un asco). It’s my first book and my first translation and even in a language that I can (kind of) read. That’ll never happen again! You only get one first book and one feeling of “wow, other people can read my book in another language now! I’ve gone global!”

So I was doing what all authors do — searching for mentions of the book. And I found one on Twitter via http://twitter.com/librosintinta I was very excited until I clicked through and realized that what they had posted was not a review, but a download to a pirated translated version of my book. They do have a disclaimer up stating they will take any links down if requested (and I’m planning on doing that today and have already notified my agent and publishers — and the site they linked to has already taken the file down after my agent requested it, so if you came here looking for a free download of the book, you hopefully won’t find it…but please read on and find out why you shouldn’t be downloading “free” books anyway…), but…

This sucks.

Strangely enough, I had read a post earlier this week from Will Wheaton (remember him? He played that kid on Star Trek and now he writes books and other stuff) about just this topic. Someone had posted a pirated copy of his latest audio book for free download on the web and the post was his open letter to the guy who did it. He says it pretty well, but I’d like to add some additional thoughts.

First off, I completely understand why some people download books (and other stuff) for free. When I was growing up, we were dirt poor. And I’m not exaggerating. If I wanted to read a book I had to go to the library or save up my lunch money (i.e. forego eating; which I often did…reading is probably the reason I was so skinny back then). If downloadable books had been an option then, who knows. I might have done it, not realizing how many people I was hurting.

Because downloading unauthorized copies of books does hurt people. All of those 300 or so people that downloaded the copy of my book before we got the link taken down? You’ve stolen directly from me. And not just me, but a bunch of other people too. Sure, publishers are companies and it’s easy to think about stealing from a faceless corporation. But those corporations are made up of people — editors, publicists, art designers, copy editors and many, many more. You’re stealing from each one of them.

And before you say, “Pfffft, authors make tons of money. They can afford getting stiffed on my copy of the book.” let me explain something else. Most authors do NOT make tons of money. You want to know how much I make off of each book? Approximately a dollar. And that’s the hardback. I get more like 40 cents off of each paperback. Yes, you read that right. Think about how many copies I would need to sell before I become anywhere near rich (not to mention I only get paid quarterly). And then add in taxes and health care and all of those things…I literally could not afford to write if my husband didn’t have a decent job (and was supportive of my career — thank you, Tony). So when you steal a book from me, it does hurt. And compound that with each person who steals and add it up and it really hurts.

You might also bring up the cost of books as justification. I have a couple of things to say about that too. One, prices rise when things are stolen because the publisher has to make up the loss somehow. The more is stolen, the more prices will rise over the long term. Two, you have alternatives. You don’t have to steal to read a book. You can borrow a copy from the library. You can borrow a copy from a friend. You can actually *buy* the book and support the author so they can continue to write more books.

I choose to believe that people (especially teens) who download a pirated copy of a book don’t realize that they are stealing from and hurting other people. They are just thinking about the immediate I want to read that book (and really, I’m glad they do!) and not the consequences of their actions. I could be cynical and say they’re just a bunch of thieves who don’t care about others, but I don’t want to think that about any of my readers. I don’t. You’re who I write for.

Please pass this on. If it makes one person think before downloading something illegally, then I’ll be happy.

Tags: free download of ser yo es un asco, illegal downloads
Posted in Books, Personal | 7 Comments »

I'm home! Winners will be posted shortly!

Hey! I’m happy to be home! Vacation is good, but being home is good too. There’s nothing like your own bed! We put a lot of miles on the car this trip…but more on that later (tho probably on my family blog).

I’ve got a bunch of e-mails and comments to review & answer as well as some book trailer video submissions to post. And I will be posting the winners of that either tomorrow (i.e. Monday) or Tuesday, depending on how quickly the judges get back to me. So stay tuned!

And happy October!

UPDATE: I’ve updated the original contest posting so that all entries received are listed. And I’m waiting to hear back from the judges on their top 3 picks. In the meantime, as I mentioned in the other blog post, everyone who entered is getting a prize. So — email me your name and address if you were one of the entrants!!

Further Update…well, okay, right now there’s kind of a tie. So I’m trying to get some more votes!
Further, further update…I’ve gotten more votes, but each time I keep winding up with a tie somewhere! But one way or another, I’m going to announce the winners tomorrow. It might come down to putting names in a hat to break the tie!

Posted in Past Giveaways, Personal | 5 Comments »